Today is John Peel's 72nd birthday. I have coincidentally just finished his auto/biography, started by John and finished by his beloved wife Sheila. I cannot recommend 'Margrave of The Marshes' highly enough, but won't go into details here as to save some of the surprises for you, loyal reader/listener. Needless to say, it has a sad ending.

Among the 25,000 records left behind at his Suffolk home was a box of 142 sevens, assumed to be the singles closest to his heart. Everyone knows about Mr Peel's favourite song, Teenage Kicks, of which there were three copies, but I've included a different joint below, mostly because it's one of the only songs I possess, for shame.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Monday, August 23, 2010

Warp say... "Where Cosmogramma aimed to converge 20th and 21st century musical forms, high in concept and wide in musical collaboration, this EP focuses on Flying Lotus’s hardware, with synth and vocoder playing a starring role in EP opener ‘Clay’." READ MORE HERE

Friday, August 20, 2010

This week, the Friday tune is all about readying for CARNIVAL. Plat du Jour will be back in the Smoke and representing for carnival weekend. Can't WAIT. For all things carnival, it's always best to keep an eye on the Heatwave boys. Check out their guide to Notting Hill Carnival here.

Heavyweight Polish production duo Supra1 have put together their ultimate party mix ahead of the set at Urban Nerds VS Bigger Than Barry. Signed to NYC's finest underground label Trouble & Bass, this is a taste of Supra 1's deep, dirty style that combines elements of UK funky, dubstep, NY house and UK garage blends, with epic melodies guaranteed to get you skanking!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

A succesfull festival with a record of visitors 50000! Held in the oustkirts of Helsinki next to a harbour in an beautiful old gas factory. Great place, amazing people and what a line up! We got bashed both days and started of early with the free beers, luckely we saw some of them big names...On friday Bella Boo was doing a set in a smaller tent held by Diesel U Music were the last hour was bass filled madness which seems to work just fine in Finland, after that off to see Big Boi and his massive show, his voice was crystal clear and the tracks sounded amazing!!! Then a pit stop at the Champagne tent (whatafuck??) where a friend invited us a bottle for getting him a free pass! All Love! Stumbling on to Magnetic Man: WoW ! Nuff said, the light show they create with that cube is maaad, The whole crowd jumping. A big moment was when the crowd began to do a slow dubstep clap, whithout any instructions the whole crowd clapped simultaniously!!! Benga got emotional, he said WoW..he couldn't believe it, no one could, one of the highlights of the festival no doubt. I Need Air is huge, no discussion..all in all a killer show, here is a little snippet I recorded:

Saturday, hungover but not that heavy headed cause we managed to stay out of them vodka shots, started of with an amazing steak from a steakhouse close to our hotel (also amazing:), a bottle of vino and we were back inside. Henrik Hauschildt startet the evening with a hard set from hell and there we were drinking too much way before everyone else. After this we went to se Robyn, a swedish classic. She was really cool and made a great show, I have never seen her live and actually never really liked her music, to much pop and whatnot but her stage presence and energy just made us all melt!!! Amazing stuff not like M.I.A. who sucked big time, she thinks to much of her self and belives she is some sort of a rockstar...She sounded like an angry ennoying teen and it didn't help that she got behind the decks randomly...awfull. She even did some form of planned stage dive with a fucking ramp to jump off! How rock is that??? Naaa she was worthless...never again, her thing was more of a small Dj-set not suited for a main stage...Anyways of to Joker and Nomad with a two hour set, big! Them two where drunk and had a god party themselves, haha they got the bottle out to the crowd, shit was real! I was amazed by the crowd, all jumping from beginning to end! The set was mayhem, classic tunes with more melody to more violent headcrushers!Diplo was playing after and Joker asked " where is Diplo ?" Nomads response " Ah, he is backstage having a wank" hahah ... madness. We left as soon as Joker finished, why is Diplo playing AFTER Joker and not before anyways...haha!! To get a feel here is Nomads own recording of the party!

All in all we missed a lot of them big names but it was one of the best city festivals I've been to! Thank you FLOW! See you next time!

The tracks are taken from the album Dubkasm 'Transform I - remixed' on Sufferah's Choice Recordings, which is an album of Bristol Dubstep reinterpretations of the original Roots Reggae album featuring remixes from the likes of Pinch, Headhunter, Hyetal, Appleblim & Gatekeeper and more.

In all honesty. Your a complete tool if you live in Madrid or San Sebastian and you're not getting C.A.L.O.R. this weekend. We're stuck in hellish Barcelona and there aint nothing that compares. DO IT DO IT DO IT!!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

From London town comes Dark Sky (Pictures Music) with this amazing EP. The bassline thumpin from melodic and dark dubstep to a more garage and 2 step vibe...Four tracks with tight production, nuff said!!! "Night Lights" has been bashing my head in these last couple of days! Enjoy!

Here is a sampler of the whole EP, the track "Reflex" is true damage aswell!

Assemblage Boy : An audiovisual piece by Michael Swaney and Simon Williams (Jahbitat), a collaboration in great harmony! Makes me think that we should never stop bending the rules and creating new spaces and stories, always keep babylon on a healthy distance, seeen!Hats off guys! I recommend a good soundsystem or headphones!

I have been having lots of strange dreams on this road trip, and I cannot say why. What I can say is that Bristol's vinyl scene is alive and well thanks to an innumerable quantity of charity and second-hand spots, and, the pick of the bunch so far, Rise.

I asked Plat Du Jour's personnel what their dream was (I didn't):

Me/Myself/I: "A device that would help me understand the language of animals and plants, but not fish."

Doddington: "I dream of a trained lemur in hip trainers capable of cleaning a kitchen and also tactful translations with club owners and artists alike."

C-Shell: "My dream involves my own stylish boat with wi-fi that could be used on a bi-weekly basis to fetch in molluscs and crustaceans for feasts; also, a Pullitzer or equivalent presented by Bill Bryson in recognition for my writing. Wooop woooop!"

Ominous Kizzaw: "My dream is this: a gigantine budget to produce the world's most memorable non-fiction feature, about either Boca Juniors or the as-yet-uninvented crossover of skwee and booty house which would be based in Malaysia."

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Yo from Bristol. I have been drinking a lot of good cider and now we're off to a car boot in Cheddar (yes, the Cheddar). Yo warm your cockles, via the man like Raif Kabal, comes this dedication to the city just over the Severn from here, Newport.

Friday, August 6, 2010

On a cool, clear night (typical to Southern California) Warren G travels through his neighborhood, searching for women with whom he might initiate sexual intercourse. He has chosen to engage in this pursuit alone.

Nate Dogg, having just arrived in Long Beach, seeks Warren. On his way to find Warren, Nate passes a car full of women who are excited to see him. Regardless, he insists to the women that there is no cause for excitement.

Warren makes a left turn at 21st Street and Lewis Ave, in the East Hill/Salt Lake neighborhood[6], where he sees a group of young men enjoying a game of dice together. He parks his car and greets them. He is excited to find people to play with, but to his chagrin, he discovers they intend to relieve him of his material possessions. Once the hopeful robbers reveal their firearms, Warren realizes he is in a less than favorable predicament.

Meanwhile, Nate passes the women, as they are low on his list of priorities. His primary concern is locating Warren. After curtly casting away the strumpets (whose interest in Nate was such that they crashed their automobile), he serendipitously stumbles upon his friend, Warren G, being held up by the young miscreants.

Warren, unaware that Nate is surreptitiously observing the scene unfold, is in disbelief that he is being robbed. The perpetrators have taken jewelry and a name brand designer watch from Warren, who is so incredulous that he asks what else the robbers intend to steal. This is most likely a rhetorical question.

Observing these unfortunate proceedings, Nate realizes that he may have to use his firearm to deliver his friend from harm.

The tension crescendos as the robbers point their guns to Warren's head. Warren senses the gravity of his situation. He cannot believe the events unfolding could happen in his own neighborhood. As he imagines himself in a fantastical escape, he catches a glimpse of his friend, Nate.

Nate has seventeen cartridges to expend (sixteen residing in the pistol's magazine, with a solitary round placed in the chamber and ready to be fired) on the group of robbers, and he uses many of them. Afterward, he generously shares the credit for neutralizing the situation with Warren, though it is clear that Nate did all of the difficult work. Putting congratulations aside, Nate quickly reminds himself that he has committed multiple homicides to save Warren before letting his friend know that there are females nearby if he wishes to fornicate with them.

Warren recalls that it was the promise of copulation that coaxed him away from his previous activities, and is thankful that Nate knows a way to satisfy these urges.

Nate quickly finds the women who earlier crashed their car on Nate's account. He remarks to one that he is fond of her physical appeal. The woman, impressed by Nate's singing ability, asks that he and Warren allow her and her friends to share transportation. Soon, both friends are driving with automobiles full of women to the East Side Motel, presumably to consummate their flirtation in an orgy.

The third verse is more expository, with Warren and Nate explaining their G Funk musical style. Warren displays his bravado by claiming that individuals with equivalent knowledge could not even attempt to approach his level of lyrical mastery. There follows a brief discussion of the genre's musicological features, with special care taken to point out that in said milieu the rhythm is not in fact the rhythm, as one might assume, but actually the bass. Similarly the bass serves a purpose closer to that which the treble would in more traditional musical forms. Nate goes on to note that if any third party smokes as he does, they would find themselves in a state of intoxication daily (from Nate's other works, it can be inferred that the substance referenced is marijuana). Nate concludes his delineation of the night by issuing a vague threat to "busters," suggesting that he and Warren will further "regulate" any potential incidents in the future (presumably by engaging their enemies with small arms fire).

North/South/East/West is a new project from photographer Shaun Bloodworth, designer Stuart Hammersley and Bleep.com. A photographic and musical document focusing on the music of four different regions of the world — North and South UK and East and West coast USA. The project aims to showcase our pick of a handful of labels, artists and club nights from each.

Available as two editions, both made in limited quantities. The standard edition with 14 high quality photographic prints and a 12 track CD compilation, hand numbered and with custom packaging is still available for sale.

These guys run the Butterz Blog which is a first point of call for all things Grime and have just recently launched a label of the same name. The mix aptly titled ’35 Minutes of Grime’ features beats from SRC whose Gold Coinz EP we released earlier this year plus Terror Danjah, Wiley and Jammer. Click here.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Record shops are dying on their arse in the parts of the UK that I have seen on my little summer tour. Fortunately, the charity shop scene is alive and well and there is still the odd UK release in HMV. Here are some of the jams I have picked up so far: